In Pursuit of Excellence
In Pursuit of Excellence
Y
ou might be forgiven for thinking that
all success stories of people rebuilding
their lives after war and devastation are
to be found exclusively in so called developed
countries. Right here in Grenada one man and
his business are a testament to that old saying
’you never know where life will take you.’
In this case, German born West African
raised Lutz Amechi ended up in Grenada
building and developing from the embryonic
stage, his very own internationally accredited
and certified private medical hospital.
“I was supposed to go back to Liberia and
take over my Dad's hospital, but the civil
war of 14 years shelved that plan. The
ground was fertile and ripe, and the
need was here, so I started this with my
parents blessing and backing,” says
Amechi who opened St Augustine’s
ICES
RV
We need to continuously raise the bar and
raise the standard of health care in Grenada
both for our own evolution and for the
people of Grenada who deserve the best
treatment and facilities
Medical Services (SAMS) in July
1998.
“When we first started back
then, all they had here was a
few GP’s operating small
clinics that opened on
demand. There was
no real alternative to
the General hospitals
on island, nothing
that opened 24 hrs
a day with full-time
nurses, doctors in
house, labs, x-rays,
ultrasounds inpatient
/ out patient facilities
all under one roof. So
there was a need and a
demand for our services.
Dr. Amechi
PHOTOS BY STEVE BRETT
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www.businessgrenada.com
www.businessgrenada.com
“I don’t want to hang on to this through my
old age and have it as a noose around my neck
that eventually kills me. None of my kids are
interested in this business so my thoughts
are that if I do not sell it when the time and
the money is right then I will start stepping
Initially our thinking
and business plan model
was that we would set up
a facility that surgeons and
www.businessgrenada.com
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specialists could use for their own private work
on their own patients /clients. But we received
opposition to this as many of the surgeons for
instance thought we would steal their clients.
But I have no interest or ability to steal a client
from a surgeon when I am not a surgeon so
that was a difficult challenge. But over the 20
years, time has afforded us the trust of both
patients and fellow medical professionals who
now both see the value of the service we offer.
The practice of medicine is the same the world
over but what sets us apart is how we treat our
patients, and the level of genuine care we are
able to offer.
back from my own intense involvement and let
others run it.
“I now have 3 full-time doctors working here
for me so they can help share the workload
as I approach retirement. I am now looking
to set up a more independent management
structure within the facility so that the
hospital can function efficiently and effectively
without me personally having to be so involved
in the whole process.
Amechi is still of the belief that SAMS needs
to grow, and has a lot of scope and potential
to do so. “We need to continuously raise the
bar and raise the standard of health care in
Grenada both for our own evolution and for
the people of Grenada who deserve the best
treatment and facilities.
“We are also seeing huge growth spurts
in the economy especially as it pertains to
Tourism. Sandals, Silversands and other high
end hotels are finding Grenada to be a very
attractive investment opportunity. And with
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